Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Letters to My Daughters: Persevere

I’m sure you remember those road trips well. Destruction on wheels, I think it was.

The first time we did this, Julia wasn’t even born yet. I
think I had four little girls under the age of 8 in my car (Kate, Caroline,
Kira, and Paige). (With Grandma. I don’t want to discount her—she was a huge
help.)

I do remember a few trips that got a little hairy, but
overall, I was really glad we made them. It was one of the few times I could
see my sister every year, so it was worth it to pack you guys up, strap you
into car seats, load you up with books and snacks and anything else that might
help keep you quiet. This was, after all, in the years before we had a DVD player
in our car.

*shudder*

Funny thing was, when I would tell people that I was driving
my three very young girls (and sometimes their cousins and grandmother) all the
way to Texas—by myself!—people looked at me like I was crazy.

“Why would you do
that?” they would ask. Like they’ve never imagined doing . . . anything.

Others would simply say, “I
would never do that.” Like I was
crazy or something.

Over Thanksgiving I had to make the trip by myself again. (And,
well, with the three of you.) No Dad.

Now, granted, you are all much older and much more
well-behaved in the car than you used to be. And you could help me out with the
driving.

[May I just stop here and say that back then, in the
mid-90s, I could never, ever begin to imagine the day when you girls would help
me with the driving. How did I get here?]

Even before we left for Thanksgiving, knowing that your dad
wasn’t driving home with us, I dreaded the trip with every fiber of my being.
But the point is, I didn’t let the
daunting trip stop me. It was too important to me. To all of us.

And I think there’s a lesson here.

Yes, Texas is a LONG
drive from Chicago (16 hours back when you were little). And, yes, it’s HARD to take three little girls on a
road trip that long by myself. And, yes, sometimes I didn’t want to do it.

But in the end, I was so glad I did it because the reward of
being with family was so worth it.

My dear girls, is there something in your life that you want
really badly? Maybe it’s a job. Maybe it’s an experience. Maybe it’s just to
get through whatever difficulty you’re going through right now.

Whatever you want, here’s what I have to say: Go for it.

Don’t let the doubts
of others stop you.

Don’t let your own
doubts stop you either.

And certainly don’t
let the anticipation of a long, hard journey stop you.

Because those naysayers? They’re just life-suckers, out to
suck the joy or the fun or the adventure out of your life because they don’t
have any in their own.

Don’t listen to them.

Just put one foot in front of the other, take it one step at
a time (or one mile at a time, to continue the analogy), and you will get
there.

I guess if I were to sum it up in one word, I would say: persevere.

One day, after lots of your own small—and
large—accomplishments, you’ll look back and see that you were in the driver’s
seat all along.